Amid the maddening clutter and cluck of the NHL’s third lockout, which is now six weeks old, the Islanders announced plans Wednesday to pull up stakes in Uniondale, N.Y., at the end of the 2014-15 season and do business as, yes indeed, the Islanders — only shifted approximately 23 miles west in Brooklyn.

At a hastily called news conference at the new Barclays Center, team owner Charles Wang and commissioner Gary Bettman were all smiles, handshakes, and backslaps over the abrupt announcement. According to Wang, he signed a 25-year agreement as part of the shift, landing his stick carriers in their news digs for the start of the 2015-16 season.